Saad Hariri: Won't use force to dismantle Hizbullah

Son of slain prime minister Rafiq Hariri, poised to be incoming prime minister of Lebanon, says in interview that dialogue with Hizbullah is only way of tackling group's armament

Reuters | Published: 06.13.09, 07:34

Dialogue is the only way of tackling Hizbullah's weapons, Saad Hariri, who is tapped as Lebanon's next prime minister, said in an interview Friday night.

"In Lebanon, we need to have a dialogue when it comes to the weapons of Hezbollah," Hariri, , told AFP in an interview, striking a conciliatory tone after his Western-backed coalition defeated the Iranian-backed Shiite group and its allies in a general election.

Hizbollah's arsenal has been a thorn in the side of the outgoing national unity government and at the center of a three-year-old national dialogue to define a defence strategy for Lebanon. The Shiite group has steadfastly refused to abandon its weapons arguing that they are needed to defend the country against Israeli attacks.

Hariri, billionaire son and political heir of slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, insisted that all differences between his majority coalition and the Hizbollah camp must be resolved at the negotiating table.

"We need to sit down first of all and accept (the outcome) of the election ... and make sure that when we have a dialogue. It should be a calm dialogue," he said. "We need to see what are the common issues that we all agree on and then the differences will be resolved."

He said he would not "shy away" from becoming prime minister if his coalition nominates him to the post. "I will discuss it with my allies, I will not shy away from it," he said. "If we decide, all of us together, that this is what we want, that this is what is good for Lebanon, then we will take it from there."

Trying to preempt conflict

He also cautioned against any faction setting conditions before the new government is formed. "The most important thing... is for everyone not to preempt positions," Hariri said. "For the sake of Lebanon, for the sake of stability, we should not preposition ourselves.

"Let's be a little wise for once and benefit from the vote that was cast on Sunday," Hariri added. "It (the vote) affirmed out democracy and a majority came out and everybody needs to read into all of these messages from the Lebanese people."

Hizbollah and its allies have demanded that the veto power over key decisions that they enjoy in the outgoing government be maintained. Hariri's camp has said it would not accept this request while Hariri said it was too early to speculate on such demands.

"I am not going to speak about this issue," he said. "We held elections, everyone must read into them and when we reach the time for negotiations and naming the head of government we'll see."

He also stressed that he was confident the country would not plunge into another political crisis as the one that brought Lebanon close to civil war last year. "I am extremely confident and optimistic that we will be wise enough to avoid Lebanon any political instability," he said.

Hizbollah and Israel waged a two-month war in 2006 and the militant group has since refused to disarm despite a post-war UN resolution that calls for all militias in Lebanon to turn in their weapons.

Hariri said that while his camp was committed to implementing the UN resolution, Israel also needed to cooperate. "The Israelis need to understand that Lebanese airspace is not theirs, that Lebanese waters is not theirs and having spy networks in Lebanon is not acceptable according to UN Resolution 1701," he said.